Stephen’s Selects #1: September 30th – October 6th

Musicology is defined as “the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music”. For me, that statement brings about mental images of academics with magnifying glasses poured over ancient texts in an old, stuffy library. It doesn’t sound fun and it doesn’t represent what I feel musicology really is.

Without getting too deep into it, I feel that musicology is the study of music and we should all be students of music.

That doesn’t mean learning our scales, writing new tunes and moving on. I strongly believe we should always be listening to and examining new and old music to critically evaluate and fine tune our taste.

Studying music and being able to communicate what you do and do not like is also a great benchmark of taste when you’re talking about music with other musicians, producers and friends.

I very often get asked what I’m listening to at the moment. It’s a great conversation starter whether you’re a musician or not.

So, to open that conversation up even further, I’ve created a weekly Spotify playlist that I want to share with you.

I’ll be updating it every week with 10 tracks that have influenced my life, music, career and conversations. I’ll also be breaking down why each track is included on this blog. Some tracks will be included for the sheer fun of it!

Now, without further ado, here’s the breakdown of Stephen’s Selects #1: September 30th – October 6th…

1. A Perfect Circle – ‘Eat The Elephant’
   The combined release of Tool’s new album and Maynard James Keenan’s recent interview on the Joe Rogan Experience had me digging through the APC back catalogue and listening to their latest offering from 2018. ‘Eat The Elephant’ showcases Maynard’s beautiful voice along with the lovely recording and mixing of the instruments and vocals.

2. The Beatles – ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
   An absolute classic. I was sitting in a pub in Dublin with my brother a few weeks ago and this came on. I had never noticed the pitch shift in John Lennon’s vocals before but I highly recommend you search for the story around the making of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’.

3. Saint Mesa – ‘The Blackest Hand’
   If someone tells me they’re a musician, I want to know everything about what they do. I’m fascinated by music and musicians. When I recently spoke with Bryan, the drummer and bassist on this track, I wanted to know all about his music too. What an incredible surprise! ‘The Blackest Hand’ is dark, ominous, theatrical but full of energy, passion, ryhthym and a call to action.

4. One Republic – ‘Somebody To Love’
   What can I say? I love a good modern pop song. It’s interesting that this song comes in at the 3 minute mark and shorter pop songs are becoming a trend. Ryan Tedder’s vocals are immense as always and the pop production is tasteful.

5. deadmau5 – ‘fn pig – ov’
   Deadmau5′ orchestral album is really lovely to listen to. There’s something about the combination of synthesized instruments and orchestral parts that really get me. Hearing each of the individual parts in ‘fn pig’ split out into an orchestral format really showcases Deadmau5 immense musical and arrangement talent.

6. John Mayer – ‘Carry Me Away’
   This song has an almost identical start to the one preceding it but is very different in style and execution. Love him or hate him, I’m a big John Mayer fan. He’s an incredible guitarist and this song does almost nothing to highlight that. It’s more focused on pure pop production. Again, it comes in under the 3 minute mark, continuing the trend.

7. Beyoncé – ‘7/11’
   Last week, I was chatting with a friend about trap production and trap hi-hats in his production style. This song executes that style flawlessly and that’s why it’s on the list this week.

8. Halsey – ‘Graveyard’
   Another short pop song that leaves you wanting more. Halsey’s voice is incredible and I really like this pop production. What’s very nice about it is the blend of acoustic guitars, electric guitars and synth parts. There’s a nice evolution and blend of each throughout the arrangement.

9. TOOL – ‘Invincible’
   Yes! Tool are back! It took a while for ‘Fear Inoculum’ to really hit home with me. But after a few listens, I could safely say it’s a masterpiece. Invincible displays the various facets of Adam Jones’ guitar style rather nicely while also leaving room for the incredible musicianship of Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey. These guys are just getting better and better. Oh and Maynard James Keenan sings for them too. It’s almost unfair!

10. Thin Lizzy – ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’
    Another tribute to my roots. It’s 2 weeks since Dublin won another All Ireland Senior Football Championship at Croke Park. My family and I are huge fans of ‘The Dubs’, so this one is for them. This song is played every time they win and who better than Dublin’s own Phil Lynott to help us celebrate?! The boys are very much back in town.

    Click here to listen to the full playlist on Spotify!

    So, that’s it! The very first week of Stephen’s Selects.

    (Please note that the link will link you to the playlist of the current week and might not feature the tracks listed above!)

    If you’d like to have your song featured or have any recommendations, drop me a comment below or email. Let’s talk more about the music we’re listening to and share our ideas!

     
    

    Now, I’d love to know…

    
    What are you listening to this week? What are you working on? Have anything you’d like to share?
     
    Leave a comment below!

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